[Miracle Work: "Bouquet."]
[Description: A scene painted of Pokémon called Iron Valiant and Lilligant presenting a bouquet to their Trainer.]
[So long as you lay eyes on a phantom artist's work, anyone will be moved by its greatness. No matter what it seems to depict, it always leaves something beautiful in the viewer's heart. That is what a supreme masterpiece is. A genuine article happens only once, never twice.]
[Effect: Gift it to someone, and you can change their entire life. Great Virtue +500%. Value +∞%.]
Reading the description, and sensing the dead silence all around, Hikaru knew it.
This time, it really worked.
A "miracle work" was something only Master Pollockson had ever produced, and only a handful of times at that. His last painting had been completed in Whitestone, under the miracle of Smeargle, amid the radiance of the rising sun.
Compared to Whitestone, Artazon, the town of flowers and art, was no less impressive. It was only that Master Pollockson had never come to Paldea. If he had, he probably could have painted a new miracle work here as well.
And judging by Brassius's condition…
"Wwoooooah! A miracle, a miracle work has been born!"
The dejected artist of Artazon looked like he was in the middle of some kind of "Ultra Beast transformation." His mental state had never been great to begin with, and now it looked even worse.
Of course, the "worse" in this case was probably a good thing, because Brassius was so overwhelmed he was crying uncontrollably.
Even someone who knew nothing about art could still see the beauty in the piece and become briefly lost in it.
Back when Master Pollockson had invited Ash and the others to view his work, even though it was an abstract collage that didn't depict any concrete subject, it still moved Ash and Team Rocket to the point they could barely stand it.
Even Brock gave it his highest evaluation:
"Subarashii! It's even prettier than any beautiful onee-san I've ever met!"
And now, this painting's effect on everyone present was even more pronounced than Master Pollockson's collage had been.
"What did you feel just now?"
Rika and Iono were also watching the painting. Hikaru's speed really was beyond anything they expected. This wasn't the kind of efficiency a normal painter should have.
Painting was a special language of expression. Depicting something concrete was only the first level of reaching a "miracle." As for what a true miracle was…
Even Hikaru gained some insight during this creation.
The highest form of depiction was the depiction of a scene. To bring out something that existed in the mind but could not be concretely defined, and to give the inexpressible a real vessel.
"I don't really get art paintings, but this one really does look amazing. I keep feeling like I've lived through something like this before… but did my Pokémon ever give me flowers? Or was it someone else?"
Iono scratched at her hair, staring without blinking. She watched for a long while, then suddenly realized she couldn't describe it with anything except "moved," and that absurd sense of powerlessness made her feel a little ridiculous.
Iono said, "But at this level, it's basically a world-famous painting, right!"
Brassius looked half-insane. "Of course! This is unquestionably a world-class work! It's too great. My bottleneck is completely gone. My inspiration is… it's just pouring out, one after another!"
"I need to start working immediately! But, but I still want to keep looking!"
Iono paused her camera recording, then complained to Rika, "It's over. Brassius has snapped."
Rika replied, "Artists are like that. Honestly, this is the normal version of Brassius."
When Brassius was stuck in a slump, he was negative and irritable. But once he recovered, he became like this, wild and feverish. That was also an indispensable step in an artist's creative process.
She looked at the work that had shaken Brassius to the core, and the corners of her mouth lifted into a small smile.
Rika felt it too. More than that, the earlier sensation of "memory" had become even clearer.
Maybe, a long time ago, someone really had given her a bouquet.
Or maybe that had never happened at all.
What a strange feeling it was, like she had been swapped into the person inside the painting and had lived through a wondrous life, a life that was still extending into the future.
My future…
Among the Elite Four of each region, she belonged to the youngest group. Since she was little, she had already possessed extraordinary strength. In order to keep challenging her limits and tempering her power, she had moved from Johto to Paldea.
Then she had been comprehensively crushed under Geeta's hands, the Top Champion. But it didn't make her feel bitter. If anything, she felt grateful.
It was a battle experience she could never forget. She never regretted coming to Paldea either. Even if she was working a "corporate job" now, and her life had drifted just a little from what she once dreamed of.
Rika's pupils tightened slightly. For an instant, she thought she saw a little girl with indistinct features, but with green hair, standing not far away.
Then the phantom popped like a bubble and vanished, leaving behind only laughter that sounded joyful, and almost like a dream.
Iono blinked. "Eh? Rika-onee-san, your smile is so pretty!"
Rika chuckled softly. "For a moment, I saw something unbelievable."
Iono waved her sleeves, thrilled. "Whoa! Was it like a scene from the future? I think I saw something too! I saw a future where Iono becomes a super popular streamer, with fans all over the world!"
Rika didn't find it surprising. "That's an amazing future to see."
At Iono's current pace, becoming a top streamer was only a matter of time. After all, she was Paldea's public-facing "export outlet."
Rika nodded slightly. "That felt great. What a wonderful piece… I'm back. So this is what people mean by '初心' and 'dreams,' huh."
"Clap, clap, clap~"
Along with the applause, a woman walked in from outside the studio. She wore a black suit and leather shoes, blue gloves, and had jet-black hair that looked like Glimmora itself had come alive and turned into a glossy cascade.
Geeta said, "It truly is a shocking work. I stood outside the window for a long time before I came back to myself. This painting really does contain a certain kind of power."
"Even though it has nothing to do with us, just looking at it as an admirer, it feels as if we've become the person in the painting. The bouquet contains gratitude toward the past and anticipation for the future. Is that an acceptable interpretation?"
"Ah, Top Champion!" Rika turned, and when she saw Geeta had arrived, she first looked delighted, and then visibly relaxed.
The commander-in-chief was finally here.
Iono said, "Eeeh! It's the Top Champion! The Top Champion finally showed up!"
Geeta smiled. "That's right. After I finished the work at hand and confirmed our guests didn't need my company for the moment, I came straight here. Oh my, good things really do come in pairs. There's not even a moment to breathe. But thanks to this painting, I feel like a lot of my fatigue has faded."
She paused, then repeated seriously.
"This isn't flattery. It's sincere."
"I understand art to some extent, so I can better appreciate how extraordinary this piece is. I heard you're a Psychic. Did you incorporate some psychic power into this work?"
"A little, but not much," Hikaru answered, and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Geeta-san."
"Just Geeta is fine," Geeta replied, smiling. It wasn't a polite smile either, but something genuinely warm. Then she immediately added, "Thank you. Thanks to your help, we discovered an entirely new Pokémon in Paldea."
"That has an irreplaceable significance for research into our regional Pokémon ecology."
"We're very much looking forward to working with you, and with Professor Aurea Juniper, to publish important academic results together."
Hikaru nodded. "No problem at all. Also, your Bisharp seems to have completed its evolution. Congratulations."
"It's all thanks to you," Geeta said politely.
The two exchanged courtesies and small talk for a while, and more or less confirmed the arrangements for publishing academic results. In short, Paldea wasn't simply "riding on fame." Geeta truly had her Bisharp evolve, and allowed it to undergo Professor Juniper's investigation and research.
So Kingambit was not currently with Geeta.
Geeta had originally planned to participate in the research as well, but because of Hikaru's situation, she had to rush here immediately.
So, Geeta cut straight to the point and brought up the conditions Rika had agreed to earlier.
"Just as Rika said, we can agree to anything. The conditions you offered are all within what we can accept."
Unexpectedly, from Geeta's perspective, those conditions weren't even difficult to negotiate.
Whether it was entry permission for Area Zero, or exploration permits within Paldea, or even things like a part-time job with no overtime and a white-collar salary, none of that was a problem for Geeta.
"Hiss. That's a bit abnormal. As far as I know, you should be asking for more. You really shouldn't be agreeing so readily, right?" Hikaru asked, puzzled.
Geeta was the kind of person who would squeeze labor out of even kindergarten kids if she could catch them. How was she suddenly this easy to talk to?
Or was it that there were still a few years before the Scarlet and Violet storyline began, and Geeta hadn't yet become the later version of a black-hearted boss?
So Hikaru spoke bluntly.
Geeta chuckled. "It's easy to understand, actually."
She explained with a smile:
"An Elite Four member's work in the Paldea League involves evaluating each Gym, discovering outstanding newcomers, actively participating in social activities, selecting Trainers with value and potential, promoting the Academy, handling documents, participating in regional development, planning urban development routes, maintaining Paldea's public security and stability, conducting field surveys throughout Paldea…"
"It's busy, but still manageable."
"And right now, the League is still in a growth phase. Everything is gradually becoming standardized and procedural. Each city's momentum is strong, the economy is rising, the population is increasing, and the League's staffing grows year by year. So as long as nothing major happens, we don't need to add extra work content for the time being."
"What we lack, compared to other regions' Leagues, is combat power."
"As the League's face, before you arrived, Paldea couldn't even fill the fourth Elite Four seat. It's not that we lack Trainers with solid strength, but we didn't have enough who could be called 'few and far between.'"
"Our local culture is like this. Most people prefer a free and comfortable life. I think it runs counter to certain League development plans, but it's also part of what makes our region unique."
"It's precisely because of that freedom and comfort, plus our abundant natural resources, diverse Pokémon, long-established universities, and unique Terastallization battles, that our region keeps attracting outside Trainers and residents to settle here."
"Among the vast number of Trainers, some truly powerful newcomers will always appear. Our role is to discover and guide them, so they become Paldea's backbone."
Geeta rubbed her brow. Thinking about other regions really did give her a headache.
"In those powerful, established Leagues, if an Elite Four position changes even slightly, a Trainer of equivalent strength immediately appears to fill it, seamlessly. The Indigo League's Elite Four rotations are almost perfectly continuous, and the Unova League is the same. Even the Hoenn League, which shares our rich natural environment, has had talent emerging nonstop for the past decade and has drawn enormous attention."
"So increasing our combat strength is our urgent priority. The thinking of Unova's Drayden-san aligns with my own. Paldea's method of absorbing talent is exactly the same as Unova's."
"For that reason, at my proposal, we established a special Trainer classification: Champion Rank. However, as of now, those who have passed can only be described as…"
Geeta shook her head, her stance crystal clear.
I can be America too.
I can be the beacon of the Pokémon world too.
How did Unova develop? Wasn't it by relying on immigration from all over the world to build that old, once-rundown place into one of the most advanced regions?
And how did the Indigo League develop? Hoenn, Sinnoh… even Galar's rise!
Hikaru nodded. "Replicating other Leagues' development routes is the most efficient and most reliable way forward."
Unova has immigrants, so Paldea accepts immigrants too.
Kanto develops towns, Paldea develops towns too.
Johto emphasizes history and culture, Paldea isn't lacking that either.
Kalos focuses on leisure and fashion, Paldea's pretty leisure-and-fashion too.
Galar has Dynamax as its specialty, Paldea has Terastallization as its specialty. Who doesn't have a battle system?
Geeta continued, "Yes. A lack of talent is also a key reason we don't have major battle facilities yet. But I've already submitted an application to the Union Tower."
"The Union Tower, as the gathering place for the League Council from all over the world, discusses resolutions beneficial to regional development. I want more types of Trainers to enter Paldea, and I also hope the Pokémon Ranger Union will dispatch Pokémon Rangers here."
"As long as enough Trainers come, one day, battle facilities will develop on this land like bamboo shoots after the rain."
"For that reason, in the next period of time, I'm also preparing to travel to the Battle Frontiers of Hoenn, Johto, and Sinnoh for on-site investigations, and to participate in challenges…"
As for Champion Rank Trainers, Hikaru thought Professor Sada should qualify, no question. But she was a researcher specializing in Terastallization, so she would never join the League to become an Elite Four member.
Hikaru vaguely remembered that Champion Rank had some sort of roster. The two professors seemed to be on it, but also seemed not to be.
Nemona was the Champion Rank Trainer most familiar to players in the later storyline, followed by the protagonist. But aside from the protagonist, there was also supposedly a new Champion Rank Trainer in an official novel, Anna. That made only three.
"Going to the Battle Frontier to challenge it? I haven't heard about that at all," Rika said, surprised.
Geeta chuckled. "It was a decision I made on short notice. The actual departure is still a long way off, though. There's plenty of work piled up in front of me."
When those two were together, Geeta often made sudden decisions like this and threw Rika's plans into chaos. That had happened in the Pokémon Masters setting too.
"Then the precious item you mentioned earlier is?" Hikaru asked, referring to the important condition Geeta had promised.
Then she saw Geeta take out a Tera Orb.
What, was it still a Tera Orb in the end?
Geeta said, "This is a Tera Orb. I'm sure you've seen one already, but the precious item I meant is not the Tera Orb itself."
"Of course, as an Elite Four member of the League, you will be granted the right to use a Tera Orb. At present, Tera Orbs are only provided to Trainers with proven strength."
"The precious item I meant is this."
With one hand holding the Tera Orb, Geeta produced a pale green hexagonal gemstone with the other and handed it to Hikaru.
And this thing looked exactly like the hexagonal gem inside the Tera Orb.
No, it was that very thing.
Geeta explained, "Several years ago, through our research into Area Zero, we finally mastered methods to utilize Terastallization. The result was the Tera Orb, and what supplies power to the Tera Orb is this special gem inside it."
"These gems exist deep within Area Zero. For reasons unknown, they seem to store crystallized energy and also possess the power to generate crystal formations."
"Normally, the gem is placed above the Tera Orb to prevent accidental activation. After you press the button, a hole opens in the center and the gem drops into the core below. Once the gem is set in place, the cracks in the lower half absorb atmospheric energy to 'activate the core,' producing a shimmering blue aura and light, and then the gem becomes 'plasmified.' That's how the power of Terastallization is used."
[Mythic Material (?): Tera Jewel (Terapagos, Death).]
[Description: Terapagos once dwelled in ancient Paldea. People used to believe it went extinct roughly two million years ago due to tectonic shifts. But it seems it transformed the energy within its body into a hardened crystal, and protected itself in a dormant state. It is a Pokémon worthy of being called the source of Terastallization.]
[It is said the power of Terastallization originated from a colossal meteor from space. This meteor brought crystallized energy, triggered tectonic shifts in Paldea, and caused mass extinctions. It is said the ultimate Terastal was given the name "Stellar."]
[Effect: A secret treasure containing Terastal power. Its true form seems to be the shell of a dead Terapagos. It can cause changes in a creature's abilities, and also enhances mechanical performance.]
[Effect: Used together with a Tera Orb, after absorbing massive Terastal energy and the Stellar crystal energy of Area Zero's Great Crater, the Tera Jewel's energy threshold can be raised. At that point, if you apply an amplified Terastallization to a Pokémon, some effects from Tera Raid Battles can appear.]
[Note: Some wild Terastal Pokémon have absorbed huge amounts of Terastal energy, and thus have mastered special abilities that cannot be used in ordinary Terastal battles.]
[Cleanse: Removes negative stat changes, status conditions, and negative field states. Removes the opposing Pokémon's stat changes and Ability effects.]
[Steal Tera Orb Charges: Reduces all Trainers' available Tera Orb charge uses by 1. Has no effect on Trainers whose charge uses are already 0, or on Pokémon that have been defeated and are awaiting revival.]
[Gather Energy: After gathering energy, creates a shield that significantly reduces damage, while also curing status conditions and confusion.]
[Note: Once fully charged, it can serve as power for time-space travel. Combined with the power of the Time Explorers and three pendants, it can take you to far more distant worlds. By using Terastal power, it can also create machines beyond common sense that do not belong to the present world, such as bio-android AI. Or it can call the dead back to the living world.]
There weren't many things that could serve as time-space fuel. A Tera Jewel was exactly one of them.
Hikaru's gaze sharpened instantly.
Three major Tera Raid abilities!
Wasn't this the source of all evil behind Tera Raid Battles?
(End of Chapter)
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